Powers/Abilities: Gifted with robotics and electronics, Young trained under robotics expert Mendel Stromm. The full depth of his expertise is unrevealed.

History: (Amazing Spider-Man I#37 (fb) - BTS) - While incarcerated in State Prison for an undisclosed crime, Max Young encountered fellow inmate Professor Mendel Stromm and made plans to work with him on their release.
Released before his associate, Young made arrangements per Stromm's instructions, including the purchase and set-up of a well-equipped lab using funds Stromm left hidden prior to his arrest.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#37) - Picking up Stromm after he was released from State Prison, Young drove the Professor to his new lab. After showing off the gadgetry he'd acquired, Young returned home for the night. Returning later, Young saw Stromm complete his Amoeboid robot and stood by while it was sent to ransack a lab owned by Norman Osborn, Stromm's former business partner. Eventually the Amoeboid was destroyed during a fight with Spider-Man, and Young and Stromm began work on a second robot.
As work on the second robot wrapped up, Young was sent to investigate an intruder snooping around Stromm's hideout. Bringing the intruder, underworld figure Patch (secretly Daily Bugle reporter Frederick Foswell), into the lab at gunpoint, Young told Patch that his knowledge of Stromm's activities made him a liability and he prepared to shoot him. Thwarted by Spider-Man (who'd been trailing Patch), Young ran, leaving his gun behind in the sealed room. He quickly returned to Stromm's lab to observe the second robot's attack on Osborn.
After the second robot destroyed one of Osborn's plants and appeared to kill Spider-Man (who'd broken out of the sealed room and followed the robot to the plant), Young stood by while Stromm recalled it to his lab. Surprised to see that Spider-Man survived and followed the robot back to Stromm's hideout, Young tried to escape but was stopped by Patch using Young's discarded handgun.(Amazing Spider-Man I#371/#372 (fb) - BTS) - Young began suffering from schizophrenia and dissociative identity disorder and was placed in a private sanitarium in Long Island. (see comments)(Amazing Spider-Man I#371/I#372 (fb) - BTS) - Fellow inmate Alistaire Smythe escaped, taking Young, among others, with him to a private estate.(Amazing Spider-Man I#367/I#368/I#369/I#370 (fb) - BTS) - Smythe put Young and the others to work designing new Spider-Slayers for him, including a model resembling Stromm's Amoeboid robot.(Amazing Spider-Man I#371) - Young created the Mark 14 Spider-Slayer and was tasked with using it against Spider-Man and the Black Cat. While the three parts of Young's personality -- his independence, his sanity, and Stromm's influence -- argued via the Mark 14's three-sided face plate, Spider-Man used Young's instability against himself, resulting in Young turning his weapons against one of his other "sides" and destroying the Mark 14.(Amazing Spider-Man I#372) - Scolded by Smythe for his failure to kill Spider-Man with the Mark 14, Young's personalities responded in sequence, accepting responsibility for the failure, blaming Smythe, and apologizing for his anger. Choosing to make an example of Young for his insolence, Smythe activated a switch in his hoverchair that electrocuted Young, leaving him a charred skeleton.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#371) - Roberts met with Peter Parker and Felicia Hardy to discuss Max Young's escape. Roberts explained that the circumstances of Young's departure were kept quiet and threatened legal action against Parker and Hardy if they revealed it publicly. When Young later attacked the sanitarium using the Mark 14 Spider-Slayer, Roberts was used by Parker (acting as Spider-Man) to stop Young's rampage. In the aftermath Roberts revealed that Alistaire Smythe was the mastermind of the breakout.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#373 (fb) - BTS) - After Smythe was defeated by Spider-Man, the kidnapped inmates were returned to the mental institution where Roberts assured Parker they would receive special counseling.

--Amazing Spider-Man I#371 (I#373

Stewart

(Amazing Spider-Man I#372 (fb) - BTS) - Stewart was one of the inmates kidnapped by Alistaire Smythe when he escaped from the sanitarium he'd been placed in after an encounter with Spider-Man in Pittsburgh. As with the other kidnapped inmates, Stewart was held in a "shackle-cart", which Smythe controlled via a keypad.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#369 - BTS) - The inmates were forced to watch as he sent the Mark 12 Spider-Slayer after Spider-Man.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#372 - BTS) - Smythe made an example of inmate Max Young, electrocuting him in his shackle-cart in front of the other inmates.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#373) - Present when Spider-Man arrived at Smythe's remote lair, Stewart attempted to explain that he and the other kidnapped patients were being held against their will and forced to help Smythe. Freed from his shackle-cart during Spider-Man's fight with Smythe, Stewart tried to talk Smythe into sparing Spider-Man's life but was slain for his efforts.

--Amazing Spider-Man I#367 (I#368-373

unnamed asylum inmates

(Amazing Spider-Man I#372 (fb) - BTS) - When Smythe escaped the sanitarium he'd been placed in after an encounter with Spider-Man in Pittsburgh, he took a dozen of his fellow patients with him, selecting them for their technological expertise. To keep them under his control, the kidnapped inmates were held in "shackle-carts", which Smythe controlled via a keypad.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#369) - The inmates were forced to watch as he sent the Mark 12 Spider-Slayer after Spider-Man.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#372) - Smythe made an example of inmate Max Young, electrocuting him in his shackle-cart in front of the other inmates.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#373) - The inmates were assembled to confront Spider-Man when he located Smythe's estate, and watched as their shackle-carts were used offensively against the wall-crawler. After the murder of fellow inmate Stewart at Smythe's hands pushed Spider-Man to defeat Smythe, the inmates were returned to the sanitarium were they were promised special counseling.